Delhi Capitals, who have been the runners-up three times in the tournament, will not have their ace all-rounder Annabel Sutherland for Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026.
This is a tremendous loss for the team, as she was anticipated to be a crucial player and was also the one the franchise retained prior to the auction.
Annabel Sutherland Withdraws, Alana King Replaces Her for WPL 2026
Sutherland withdrew from the competition because of personal issues. She was the one the franchise kept for INR 2.2 crore. The all-rounder was with the team for the last two seasons after she played for Gujarat Giants in the first edition. In WPL 2025, she bagged 9 wickets in 9 games and scored 95 runs as well.
Delhi Capitals have signed Alana King as her substitute. The Australian leg spinner has played 27 T20Is and has claimed 27 scalps. She joined the team at a reserve price of INR 60 lakh.
How Delhi Capitals Will Cope With Annabel Sutherland’s Absence
It will be extremely tough for Delhi Capitals to find a replacement for a player like Annabel Sutherland since she was a dual contributor. Her batting position was No.5 in the middle order and she used to bowl her full quota of four overs regularly. Thus, the team’s balance was great. The team will need to make some changes to its combination due to her absence.
Alana King is the one who has been brought in as her substitute and is most probably going to be directly included in playing XI. However, since King is primarily a bowler, Delhi Capitals will have to add an extra seam bowler and an extra batter in the team to make up for what Sutherland used to provide as an all-rounder.
The upper batting order is still looking very powerful, as Shafali Verma is expected to partner with Laura Wolvaardt at the top of the order. Captain Jemimah Rodrigues is going to be the third one in and is in a good position. Marizanne Kapp will once more be the key player in scoring runs in the middle order and taking wickets with the new ball, and she will have to shoulder the burden of Sutherland’s absence as well. Chinelle Henry will be another all-rounder present in the side.
Niki Prasad will be included in the squad as a batter while Taniya Bhatia will take care of the wicketkeeping. The pace attack might consist of Sneh Rana, Shree Charani plus either Alana King or Lucy Hamilton, and Nandani Sharma as the fast bowler. To sum up, the absence of Sutherland has an impact on the team composition, and Delhi Capitals will have to alter their mix in order to stay in the match.
Annabel Sutherland in 2025
In 2025, the Australian bowler, Annabel Sutherland bagged a total of 11 wickets in just 6 T20Is. Her overall T20 count was 47 wickets from 36 matches and she was also able to contribute 533 runs with the bat. Sutherland finished the year among the top 5 bowlers in WT20s with a massive tally of 11 wickets.
During the 2025 Women’s World Cup, played in the format of 50 overs, she was phenomenal with her performance how a right-arm fast bowler can be credited with 17 wickets in 7 matches and the batsman scoring 117 runs in 6 innings at an average of 29.25. Thus, she had an excellent year in 2025, and this is the reason the franchise retained her.
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